MLB's Speedway Classic Was an Absolute Disaster
It would have been hard to script a worse way for MLB's Speedway Classic to go. The Braves are horrific and have Ronald Acuña Jr. on the IL, the Reds aren't a ton better — though they are still vying for a playoff spot — and then everything on the day of the game went completely to shit.
From reports at Bristol Motor Speedway, the fanfest was a disaster, the concession stands ran out of everything except bun-less hot dogs and cheese-less nachos and MLB elected to play the first inning of the game with standing water on the infield between two delays, the first of which came after both starting pitchers had already warmed up. And even with playing just one inning where the hitters could barely see the baseball, the Braves managed to give up a run, which seems almost too on the nose.
Having been to the Battle at Bristol between Tennessee and Virginia Tech in 2016, I can attest that logistics are not that place's strong suit. You couldn't have paid me to go to this game even if the Braves were great. I will never go back to that place. It just sucks that what should have been such a cool night for baseball turned into such a shitshow.
The game is now scheduled to resume at 1 p.m. tomorrow, when I'm sure anyone who travelled for this event will already be headed home and all they'll have to show for their troubles is sitting through four hours of rain delays for a game that should have never even started. And what was supposed to be the largest regular season MLB crowd ever may not end up being many more people than if this game was just played in Cincinnati.
The good news is we at least got a Tim McGraw/Pitbull collab that so many people have spent years yearning for.
